climate science
EcocentricEcocentric
Visualizing the Anthropocene
Today about 360,000 new people, give or take a few thousand, will enter the world. Significantly fewer than that will shuffle off it, which is why we’re adding about 200,000 people a day. Global population has already passed 7 billion, and we’re well on our way to 9 billion or more by the middle of the century. Humans live—and for the …
“The problem is we don’t know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books – mine included – because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn’t happened.”
EcocentricPolitics
Climate Expert Peter Gleick Admits Deception in Obtaining Heartland Institute Papers
Last week the climate world was rocked — or at least, strongly buffeted — by the publication of memos that were allegedly from the Heartland Institute, a nonprofit research group that takes a strongly skeptical attitude toward climate science. The memos detailed budget information — including news that groups like the …
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Climategate: Are Police Closing in on the Email Hacker?
Before we move to the green news of 2012, let’s take a look at some holiday leftovers: like Climategate. This past November—right before the latest U.N. climate change summit—an unknown person or person released another batch …
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An Arctic Wildcard Could Make the Climate Go Bust
Last week I wrote about a study that said something unusual—climate change may not turn out to be as serious as our worst fears. Well, there was a reason why that study was such an outlier—most of the science on climate …
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Arctic Permafrost: Climate Wild Card
On the basics, the science of climate change is pretty straightforward. Carbon dioxide released into the air—whether through the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation or other natural causes—adds to the greenhouse effect, which traps more solar energy in the atmosphere and warms the planet. But just how this will happen—how fast …
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Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to Second-Lowest Level on Record
If you want to see global warming in action, head to the Arctic. The seasonal shrinking of the sea ice over the North Pole is one of the most visible symptoms of the gradual warming of the planet. Every winter, Arctic ice builds up in the polar darkness, and then in the summer, it melts. Over the last several years—as temperatures …
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Al Gore Wants You to Join the Climate Reality
Though he’s the single person most associated with climate change, over the last couple of years Al Gore had kept a somewhat lower public profile on the issue. It’s not that the former Vice President disappeared entirely—he continued advocacy work through his Alliance for Climate Protection, testified on climate science at Congress and …
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Why an Antarctic Glacier Is Melting So Quickly
From the outside, the science of warming-related sea level rise doesn’t seem that complicated. Carbon enters atmosphere, planet warms up, land ice melts and runs into the oceans, sea level rises. Minus the greenhouse effect, you can pretty much see that reaction in action by heating an ice-cube over a stove.
In the real world, …